Third-Ranked UCLA Hosts No. 5 CS Northridge Apr. 14

Third-Ranked UCLA Hosts No. 5 CS Northridge Apr. 14

April 13, 2004

The No.3-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team hosts fifth-ranked Cal State Northridge on Wed., Apr. 14 before travelling to No.8 UC Santa Barbara on Sat., Apr. 17 for its final regular season match.

The Bruins meet the Matadors at 7 p.m. in the John Wooden Center. The match marks the final regular season home appearance for seniors Marcin Jagoda, Chris Pena, Adam Shrader, Matt Shubin and J.T. Wenger. UCLA keychains will be the promotional giveaway.

Saturday's match at UCSB begins at 7:05 p.m. in Rob Gym.

The Bruins have clinched a quarterfinal home playoff match against either Pepperdine or Hawaii. Hawaii visits Pepperdine this weekend in the final conference series for both teams. The MPSF quarterfinals begin on Sat., Apr. 24 on the home court of the four top seeds.

The Bruins (21-5, 15-5) split a two-match series with the Cougars last week. They lost the first match, 3-1, on Apr. 8, but rebounded with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory on Apr.9.

The Bruins have defeated the Matadors twice this season - 3-2 on Jan. 10 in the finals of the UCSB Elephant Bar Invitational, and 3-0 on Feb. 6. In both matches, freshman Steve Klosterman performed well. He smashed 22 kills (.442) on Jan. 10 and 19 vs. the Matadors on Feb. 6.

UCLA defeated UCSB 3-1 on Feb. 18 (.424) as Klosterman slammed a career-high 24 kills (.425) and senior J.T. Wenger added 20 (.552).

On Apr. 8, BYU controlled the net by limiting the Bruins to an attack percentage of .244, while hitting .359 on the strength of sophomore Fernando Pessoa's 20 kills. The Cougars out-blocked the Bruins, 12.0-7.0.

On Apr. 9, the Cougars built a two-games-to-none lead before the Bruins clawed back with the help of seniors Marcin Jagoda and Wenger. Jagoda led UCLA with 15 kills in the final three games, including seven in Game 3. Wenger added 12 kills, three aces and three total blocks. In Game 5 his consecutive aces sealed the match.

"This was a big victory for our team's confidence," said UCLA head coach Al Scates. "It gives us momentum and the home court advantage for the playoffs.

"As the match wore on, we got stronger," he continued. "It's nice to see that our conditioning has paid off."

The Bruins improved their record in five-game matches to 4-1 with the victory.